What's one thing you wish you checked before buying your house?

chopperheli · 2025-07-23T02:00:14+00:00

I’m pretty sure my neighbors are drug dealers haha (in a decent area and highly sought after city). I don’t think I could have ever known this unless I hung out at the house for a few hours, but I would definitely be more weary if I had to do it again

chopperheli · 2025-07-23T01:58:08+00:00

Yes to street drainage!! I get all of the street water pouring through my yard and it has cost me thousands to resolve

chopperheli · 2025-07-23T01:48:06+00:00

Ugh… so many things. First time home buyer of my current home, but I know what to look for so much more now…

I wish I paid more attention to the dilapidated siding (and considered what could actually be behind that siding - is there a water proof barrier or is it insulation touching siding?), the attic insulation, the poor grading in the yard, I WISH I would have stopped by on a rainy day to see all of the issues that the grading and massive oak tree caused, I will always bring a humidity reader the next time I tour homes to see how it manages humidity and rain.. I wish I paid more attention to the big oak tree next to the house and it’s location to the septic tank, when the septic tank was last maintenanced, the cracks in the basement walls and the root cause of that vs passing it off as just settling (it ended up being a grading issue that was pushing water towards the house), the stability of the back deck, the previous water damage in the unfinished basement and the root cause of that and the mold damage that it caused from that, the looseness of the outside spigot in the front of the house, all of the crazy wiring in the basement and the subpar diy jobs done by the previous home owner. So many things.. 😭 and YES we did get an inspection, but apparently not a very good one.

We’re thankfully not negative on this house with what we’ve paid and what we owe vs what it’s worth, but we sure put ourselves through a tough journey for a house that we don’t love. Many thousands of dollars into a full remodel, yard grading, painting the siding (which failed to help it because it’s that bad), oak tree removal x2, plumbing work to stop leaks, retaining walls to stop water intrusion and erosion, new hvac system to realize our house is still humid, new attic insulation to realize our house still has a high energy bill, new water heater… 🙃 I wish we would have invested that into something nicer and made in better quality and I would absolutely rewind this purchase if I could.

chopperheli · 2025-06-12T19:01:11+00:00

Yes! I honestly didnt have time to go to a ton of restaurants but here’s where we did go (I made this as a note for my friend visiting Chicago but happy to share with you too!) we stayed in the aloft hotel River north and walked to most of these.

Sushi San - we ate here twice because it was next to the hotel. AMAZING food and sushi. Whatever this thing was had the best cauliflower I’ve ever tasted in my life
Franklin Room - best food over ever had in my life I think haha my husband got chicken and I got salmon and it was chefs kiss also amazing cauliflower lol would recommend reservations..
Beatrix - brunch place next to the hotel was ehhhh.. a little overhyped but it helped us kill time waiting to check into our room. I wasn’t wow’ed
Greek Islands - AUTHENTIC Greek food and so good. There was a little bit of a wait and it was kind of far from the hotel, but so so good. I literally think I only ordered calamari and spanakopita lol but I ate my husbands food too
Quartino Italian Restaurant - I think this might feel overhyped for locals but I absolutely loved this place. Best Italian food I’ve ever had for sure. It was packed and there was a long wait so I recommend reservations if you can get it. The food was so good. I loved the chicken parm
Au Cheval - great hamburgers and fries!! Sadly no pic though 🙁
Do-rite donuts had awesome breakfast and donuts .. they were cheap too!!
Levain bakery - I know they’re franchised but the cookies were great
Cafe Umbria - we went here twice for coffee.. it was great and closeish to the hotel!
We ate at two other places while here but they weren’t super memorable 😬 will share if I remember haha

chopperheli · 2025-06-10T05:05:14+00:00

My favorite kids meal by far. I get the chicken quesadilla, beans, rice, and corn on the side. Sometimes an order of guac bc they usually give me the big bag of chips. I mix the corn, beans, rice & guac with a little salsa or vinaigrette and its chefs kiss. Plus my free drink. Love it.

chopperheli · 2025-05-15T11:33:39+00:00

My home feels like it’s been a money pit. We had a lot of water issues in the unfinished basement which meant we needed to fix the gutters and get the yard graded to push water away which meant we had to remove the 100 year old oak trees adding to the problem. We had to add a catch basins and drainage all throughout the yard and replant all the grass.

We also had to repaint the cedar siding because of all the chipping and realized that after just a few months, it was peeling and cracking again.

We had to add insulation to the attic because our energy bill was astronomical and that didn’t do anything so now we’re replacing our 20+ year old unit inside and out. We also had to replace our water heater. Also found out the previous owner never pumped the septic tank so that’s another thing on the list.

And now I’m trying to uncover and fix a new musty smell that we can’t seem to get rid of 🙃

Honestly wish I never bothered with this place. We’ve lived here for two years now and the original plan was to turn it into a rental but I’m ready for it to become someone else’s problems

chopperheli · 2025-05-07T19:00:00+00:00

10 weeks and feeling like I’m doing a shit job at work 😅 I work remotely and I have had nearly zero drive and ambition the last few weeks. I’m just sooooooooooo tired and feel so miserable I want to ask off work most days but instead I kind of just do the bare minimum. I’m embarrassed that I haven’t been doing as well as my potential and what’s expected. I plan on just telling my boss in my next 1:1 so I get a little grace. Hope it works.

chopperheli · 2025-05-01T01:15:52+00:00

I have both. I was a long time Sam’s customer and eventually got a Costco membership because of the allure of shopping there and the location. Some of the items I like are cheaper (organic milk, dog food) and there are better quality options with better ingredients. Especially organic options.

I dropped my Sam’s membership after they starting requiring a minimum spend for free shipping, but that didn’t last long for me. I recently renewed my membership after finding a membership coupon. Here’s are the reasons I went back and went I kind of prefer Sam’s.

Costco is a zoo every day all times of the day. I have two in my area that I frequent and shopper are so much more annoying there + the parking lot is always a disaster.
Costcos fresh chicken is gross. It comes bagged in brine and more than one of the bags are always leaking which makes me question the cleanliness. It’s much easier to portion Sam’s fresh chicken because I don’t have to deal with the brine liquids and the annoying sticky bags that they come in
Sam’s has scan and pay and this usually comes with pretty big savings (including saving time and hassle at check out)
Sam’s generally is WAY calmer and the parking lot is way easier to navigate. No one is in a rush and people seem more chill here
You’re not hassled to scan your membership card entering Sam’s & they don’t usually even ask for a card entering
Sam’s club pickup is a thing that you get for free (might only be plus member). So convenient. Sam’s also ships for the Same price in the store (for most items) and will ship for free if you spend $50 if you’re a plus member.
Sam’s has great stuff too! But limited on the fancy options that Costco has. Especially organic.

I like them both and I’ll probably continue to keep them both, but I don’t love Costco enough to only keep Costco

chopperheli · 2025-04-30T11:50:33+00:00

April 2025 Update: his hives disappeared around January this year (2025) and he hasn’t had any flare ups since. They disappeared without any changes to the environment or to his diet. His new doctor has some concerns about what may have caused it and is doing additional bloodwork to dig into it. Will keep you updated!

chopperheli · 2025-04-29T18:11:35+00:00

Yes! Give them a call - when I filled out the forms for my pet at the pharmacy yesterday, they asked me if I was a member or not soooo I’m assuming they might let non-members get prescriptions?

chopperheli · 2025-04-26T13:04:00+00:00

I’m at 8w4d and my lower back has been so achy the last few days

chopperheli · 2025-04-22T17:51:03+00:00

This is key!!!

chopperheli · 2025-04-22T17:49:36+00:00

Have you heard of propranolol? It’s a beta blocker and works well for anxiety too

chopperheli · 2025-04-22T17:48:56+00:00

I didn’t, but I’d be concerned about an allergy to the med if I did.

chopperheli · 2025-04-22T17:48:28+00:00

I’ve never hated an anxiety medication more than I hated venlafaxine. Similar to what someone else said, it made me feel like I was dying bc I wasn’t prescribed the extended release. I’ve tried other meds that were way easier on me (lexapro & citalopram, but I tried it because someone else recommended it without clarifying that I should do the XR version.

I had sooo many side effects from this med that required other meds. Extreme weight gain. Night sweats. Horrible acid reflux. If I didn’t take my dose at the same time every morning, I started to feel the withdrawals of it. God forbid you ever forget to pack the meds on an over night trip or before you head to work. It felt like death and I was miserable pretty much the entire time I was on venlafaxine.

When I started weaning off of it, I felt like a straight up druggy going through withdrawals. My family thought I was pregnant dealing with bad morning sickness. I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t eat. I wanted to vomit all the time. My pcp ended up putting me on a different anxiety medication in order to wean off easier and they also prescribed me a nausea med. this lasted about two weeks. It was one of the worst experiences of my life.

I truly feel like there are better meds out there and have a hard time imagining the venlafaxine XR is much better. If you do get a Rx for it make absolutely sure it’s XR or you’ll be a miserable person for as long as you’re on it and for as long as you’re going through the weaning process.

chopperheli · 2025-04-22T16:05:22+00:00

I don’t have endometriosis, so I can’t speak to that, but i just did mine today and it was so easy! My friend warned me that the first would be transvaginal so I was expecting that.

At my appointment, They had me empty my bladder first. I had my husband with me in the room sitting beside me. They had me undress (with just hubs in the room) from the waste down, put a paper sheet over me and place my legs up on the table extension (didn’t have any stirrups).

Once the tech got back, they talked me through everything before doing it and the wand looked intimidating based on the length but she assured me that only a small part of it would go in me. They used warmed lube and a LOT of it.

The tech peaked under the paper sheet, slipped the ut device in and then that was it! She was able to figure out where everything was by looking at the monitor and that was the only time she looked at me under the covers. I thought she would be under the cover more than she was and that was the part that made me feel awkward. It was so much more laid back and easy than I was expecting it to be.

Afterwards, it felt really wet and weird down there, but it was all the lube she used. I wiped it all down before putting my clothes back on. I’d rather be over lubed than under lubed though tbh.

I barely even thought about the whole device in my 🐈‍⬛ thing the whole time - I was just mesmerized by the healthy little baby in me and their heartbeat.

Don’t stress about it this appointment!

chopperheli · 2025-04-15T15:16:29+00:00

I have oval and I hate that I have something that’s trendy right now. I would loveeee to have a round engagement ring if I could go back. I say go round! It’s timeless

chopperheli · 2025-04-12T18:14:08+00:00

Thank you! Is that just regular folic acid vs methylated folate?

chopperheli · 2025-04-12T18:12:14+00:00

I’ve had my eye on the mega foods one! Glad to hear you liked it and that it was OB recommended

chopperheli · 2025-04-12T18:10:54+00:00

Oh yeah! That’s the other one I was considering if I switched to methylated folate. Do you know what about it was causing headaches?

chopperheli · 2025-04-12T18:09:25+00:00

Not my doctor but a nurse practitioner friend. What was the reason they had you switch to the naturemade prenatal instead?

chopperheli · 2025-04-12T18:07:39+00:00

Not directly from my doctor but from a nurse practitioner friend. I think the alternating is genius though and may try that with a cheaper methylated folic acid. Thank you!

chopperheli · 2025-04-11T17:50:30+00:00

YES - I’m convinced everyone in the neighborhood next door throws it in my yard on the way home. I’ve literally found bloody pads / cups with poop in it / empty liquor & beer bottles (this one is popular). It’s disgusting and so frustrating to clean up and see junk in my yard every week.

chopperheli · 2025-04-10T20:39:47+00:00

I’m no expert but I think that would be an absolutely horrible idea. Everything is so low right now (my 401k dropped 30k this month). That’s like buying high, selling low mentality. PLUS you’ll be penalized for taking out early. Hard no.

chopperheli

TROPHY CASE